Garrett hopes Cowboys can manage their 9/11 ’emotion in a positive manner’

IRVING – With pre-game and halftime ceremonies commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 scheduled by the Jets, Sunday’s season opener will be held in an emotional, highly-charged atmosphere that could overwhelm some players and bring out the best in others.

“The atmosphere for this game,” Jets receiver Plaxico Burress said, “is going to be as close to a Super Bowl as you can get…the fans, first Sunday night game of the year, against America’s Team, you know 9/11 and all those things. It’s going to be a fun game to play in. You have to really cherish playing games of this magnitude.”

Jets coach Rex Ryan has said that he’s never felt greater pressure to win a game. Knowing how much the Jets want to win this game for the fans, the Cowboys must fight against the feeling that they’ve been cast as the villain and are obligated to lose.

“I don’t think (9/11) was a regional event. It was an international event,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “Obviously, it was like none other in our planet’s history, let alone our country’s history. I certainly feel like the responsibility we have as members of the Dallas Cowboys to be at our best is no less than the responsibility that the Jets feel to be at their best.”

Garrett is hopeful the Cowboys will be focused solely on the task at hand after the national anthem is sung by Lady Antebellum.

“The best teams understand how to use the emotions in a positive way,” Garrett said. “They understand when the ball kicks off, we’re going to play a lot of plays on offense and a lot of plays on defense and a lot of plays in the kicking game. You got to take them one at a time and all that stuff leading up to the game really doesn’t matter. Hopefully, in some way we can use the emotion in a positive manner and get your mind right to play your best game, understanding it’s a three-hour affair.”